Game Preview
- Youngstown State will make its annual trek to Wisconsin for two games this weekend that will conclude the 2019-20 regular season. The Penguins will begin the trip at Milwaukee on Thursday, and tipoff at the Klotsche Center will be at 8 p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO, iHeartRadio and ESPN+.
- Thursday's contest against the Panthers will be YSU's first road game since Feb. 1. The Penguins played their five most-recent games at home and posted a 2-3 record on the homestand with wins over Cleveland State and Detroit Mercy and losses to Wright State, Northern Kentucky and Oakland.
- With the result of Sunday's loss to the Golden Grizzlies, YSU is assured that it will be seeded either seventh or eighth and playing on the road for the opening round in next week's Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship. The Penguins' opponent for game one of the tournament on March 3 is still unknown.
- YSU needs two more wins to secure its sixth 15-win season in seven seasons under head coach John Barnes. The Penguins won 15 games once (in 2012-13) in the 13 seasons prior to his arrival.
- The Penguins surpassed 200 3-pointers for the 10th straight season in Sunday's game. Only 10 other Division I teams in the country have made at least 200 3-pointers each season from 2010-11 through 2019-20.
- Junior Chelsea Olson has scored at least 12 points in nine of her last 11 games, and she's averaging a career-best 12.1 points per game. She ranks in the top 11 in the Horizon League in scoring, rebounds, assists, blocks and 3s.
- Maddie Schires set YSU's freshman record for 3-pointers in a season on Feb. 15, and her total is currently 61. That ranks tied-for-second in the conference, and it's the 15th-most by a Penguin regardless of class.
- Olson and Schires are two of four Wisconsinites who will be having a Badger State homecoming this week. Those two, along with Taylor Petit and Jen Wendler, have started 12 games together this season. Lexi Wagner, another Wisconsin native, is out for the season with an injury.
- YSU played 20 straight games with Wendler being the only active post before Emma VanZanten's return last Friday night. VanZanten had six points and three blocks in both contests last week. Mary Dunn, the program's lone senior, has missed the last 23 games with an injury and will apply for a medical redshirt, and Amara Chikwe has been out the entire season.
- YSU has started at least three freshmen in 19 games, and six freshmen are averaging at least 14 minutes in conference play. Those six freshmen have accounted for 52.6 percent of YSU's scoring in HL games.
- YSU ranks fourth in the country in free-throw percentage at 79.4 percent. The Penguins have been in the top 20 nationally in free-throw percentage three times in the last four years, including 19th in 2018-19. The school record for best free-throw percentage in a season is 78.2 percent. The Penguins are shooting 82.2 percent from the line in conference play.
Youngstown State vs. Milwaukee
A Win Would...
- Give YSU a 14-14 overall record this season and a 7-10 mark in conference play.
- Be the 274th in head coach John Barnes' career and his 118th at Youngstown State.
- Allow YSU to split the season series with Milwaukee.
On This Day
- YSU is 4-5 all-time on Feb. 27 and will be looking for its first win on the date since 1995. The Penguins have played on the date just three times since, the most-recent of which resulted in a 73-65 loss to UIC in 2014.
- Wanda Grant recorded the program's only 30-30 game in history with 33 points and 34 rebounds at West Virginia on Feb. 27, 1980.
Scouting the Panthers
- Milwaukee enters the final week of the regular season with a 12-15 overall record and a 9-7 mark against league opponents. The Panthers are tied for fifth in the HL standings with Cleveland State, and they've secured a top-six seed in the conference tournament.
- The Panthers' win over YSU on Jan. 26 started a hot stretch for them over which they've gone 6-2. Milwaukee is 5-2 at home in league play.
- Brandi Bisping leads the Panthers offensively with 9.4 points per game, and five other UWM players average at least six points. Sydney Levy has made a team-high 53 3-pointers, and Lizzie Odegard averages a team-best 6.5 rebounds. As a team, Milwaukee ranks third in the conference in rebounding margin at plus-3.1.
All-Time Series
- Overall: Milwaukee leads 29-17
- Barnes: 10-5 // Home: 10-13 // Away: 6-16 // Neutral: 1-0
- Current Win Streak: 1 by Milwaukee
- Milwaukee holds a 29-17 advantage in the all-time series with YSU, but the Penguins have won 14 of the last 19 encounters dating back to the 2012-13 season.
- Nine of the last 12 meetings with Milwaukee have been decided by six points or fewer, and only two final margins since February 2015 have been double digits. Aside from the 20-point Penguins victory on Feb. 17 and Milwaukee's 12-point win last month, the other 10 contests were decided by an average of 3.9 points. YSU has lost the last three encounters at the Klotsche Center by a total of eight points.
This Season vs. Milwaukee at Beeghly Center — Jan. 26, 2019
- YSU rallied from a 16-point deficit to tie the score in the third quarter, but Milwaukee held on to win 74-62 on Jan. 26, 2019, at Beeghly Center.
- The Panthers made five of their first six attempts from 3-point range as they built a 35-19 lead at the 4:18 mark of the second period. YSU scored the final nine points of the half as part of an overall 20-4 run to tie the score at 39.
- Milwaukee led 53-47 heading into the fourth, and YSU went without a field goal for 5:18 in the quarter as the Panthers went back up by double digits.
- Gabby Lupardus and Taylor Petit had 10 points apiece, and freshmen accounted for 48 of YSU's 62 points in the game.
Last Season at Milwaukee — Jan. 10, 2019
- YSU rallied from a 16-point deficit to force overtime, but Milwaukee scored the final six points in OT to win 71-68 in another nail-biter between the two programs.
- The Penguins fell behind 43-27 with less than 13 minutes left in the game, and they were down 50-37 entering the fourth. YSU outscored the Panthers 23-10 in the final 10 minutes of regulation, and the Penguins led 68-65 with 2:21 left.
- McKenah Peters tied the game at 60 at the end of regulation, and she finished with 17 points. Sarah Cash finished with a game-high 25 points, and she was 11-for-11 from the free-throw line.
- YSU allowed 19 second-chance points, and Milwaukee also had 17 points off turnovers.
Recapping Oakland
- Oakland scored 28 points in the first 7:30 of the game, and YSU never caught up as the Golden Grizzlies won 86-73 on Sunday afternoon at Beeghly Center.
- Oakland shot 55.2 percent, which was the highest this season by a Horizon League opponent and the second-highest of the season behind only Indiana. The Golden Grizzlies shot at least 57 percent in each quarter except the second.
- Oakland led 45-34 at halftime, and the margin was at least nine the entire second half. YSU made a push in the fourth period to trim a 17-point difference down to nine at 74-65 with 5:53 remaining.
- YSU made its first 16 attempts from the free-throw line before its first miss at the 2:43 mark of the fourth period. If it would have converted the 17th attempts, it would have tied the school record for the most makes while shooting 100 percent.
- Chelsea Olson posted team highs of 18 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two 3-pointers. She scored at least 18 points for the third time in six games this month after having reached 18 points just once in the first 21 games of the season.
- Emma VanZanten blocked three shots for the second straight game. She ranks third on the team with eight blocks despite missing 20 games with an injury.
- YSU reached 200 3-pointers for the 10th straight season on McKenah Peters' triple from Ny'Dajah Jackson at the 6:34 mark of the fourth period.
- The Penguins committed 17 turnovers, and Oakland converted those into 21 points. YSU grabbed 11 offensive rebounds but was only able to get 10 points from them.
- Chloe Guingrich was a difference-maker for Oakland. She had 23 points (on 10-of-13 shooting) and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes in this meeting. She had 14 points and seven rebounds in the fourth quarter alone. Guingrich had six points and five rebounds in 11 minutes in the contest at Oakland on Jan. 17.
- Quinece Hatcher was out sick and missed the first game of her career.
Up Next
- Youngstown State will conclude the regular season at Green Bay on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast live from the Kress Center on 570 WKBN and ESPN3.
